Twenty-four sessions of the Hive Fashion Build-A-Brand workshop culminated in a finale celebration last week where students presented their designs to professional designers from Christpher Bevans Atelier and the Roc Apparel Group (including Billionaire Boys Club and Rocawear), as well as friends, family, and Cooper-Hewitt staff. During the program, students got to experience what an authentic fashion design industry event feels like, while learning technical skills such as Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator, tech packs, sewing, and fabric selection.

The finale event was held in the same building that major fashion brands, such as the Jones Group and Roc Apparel, are based. The students dressed showrooms with their brand logos, presentation documents, and sample garments. Guests enjoyed refreshments while visiting the displays and talking with the students about the vision, design, fabric, construction, marketing, and customer profile for their brands.

The 12 high school students participating in this 24-session workshop come from different schools across the city, and were selected from a pool of over 30 applicants representing all five boroughs. The sessions stretch students’ problem-solving and critical-thinking skills. They are asked to tackle real world design challenges, such as learning to collaborate on teams and stay true to creative visions, while meeting time and budget constraints.